Beloved
by adlyb
Summary: Imagine time is like a wheel. What was will be, and always has been. So, you see, this is really... Inevitable. Take my hand, love. It's only forever, and that's not long at all. A dark retelling. Rei/Jadeite
1. Prologue: An End

**Beloved **

by adlyb

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor the unspeakable perfection that is Jadeite.

* * *

**Prologue: An End**

The earth shook. Several hours had passed since the Negaverse forces had, assured of easy victory, overwhelmed Serenity's Kingdom.

Jadeite's boots echoed through the empty halls of the destroyed Lunar Imperial Palace, through cavernous ballrooms filled with the richly gleaming bodies of the gentry, dressed eternally for a ball that ended well before midnight. Jadeite glanced through the bodies, not really expecting to find what he was looking for inside.

A hand on his shoulder jolted him, caused him to catch the offending appendage in a defensive grip and whirl around to face his assailant.

"Jadeite, stop! It's me!"

Only Nephrite.

"You are needed."

"Why?"

"It's Serenity. She's missing."

"You mean you cannot find the body?"

"That's just it. We've gone through every corpse out there. The Queen isn't to be found. And if there's no corpse…"

"Then she may still be alive."

"Exactly."

"What does Beryl propose?"

"We're to search… Until we find either the Queen's body or…"

"Herself. I presume I have orders to eliminate her on sight?"

"Yes."

Jadeite nodded. "Fine." He turned, took one last look around the ballroom, noting the large veins running up the sunken staircase, the fallen chandeliers, before phasing out into the courtyard.

The destruction outside was on an even larger scale than the spectacular destruction within. Jadeite stayed alert as he scanned the piles of rapidly cooling flesh. He would continue his search while also looking for Serenity. His ability to accomplish many ends with a single means had aided his meteoric rise to power. It would also allow him to execute his own agenda today.

Jadeite approached the promenade. Where in the past a long line of luxurious, ancient trees had shaded the central avenue, there now stood only warped branches, twisted trunks. Near the main entryway into the palace there was a large wrap-around porch, designed to impress foreign envoys with its massiveness. In the wake of the battle, the heavy palace doors had been blasted, the imported ivory and marble columns surrounding the porch smashed. In the center of the resulting crater Jadeite could make out a faint, silvery glow. The Imperium Silver Crystal.

Unmindful of his steps, Jadeite snaked towards the light. His boot caught and he stumbled, catching himself only barely. He might have continued, without ever looking down at what had caught his foot had one of the buckles on his boot not become ensnared. Still staring at the bright silver light emanating from the crater, Jadeite fastened his hands to his boot and yanked hard. His boot came free. When he raised his pristine white gloves, he noticed long, raven strands wound around his hands, covering the vermillion stains pluming over the palms of his gloves. Deliberately, he detangled the hair from his fingers, slowly raised the stained glove to his face and sniffed. Blood. Finally, Jadeite looked down at the hair and blood's owner.

His search was over.

Lying in a disorganized heap on the ground was her broken body.

Jadeite crouched low, reached a hand out and slowly traced the curve of her jaw, the sweet line of her lips. Her eyes were wide, vacant and dark. Moving his hands through her heavy hair, Jadeite found the wound that must have killed her. A crack in the skull, exposing her brain to dribble out with the gushing red blood. He realized then that the puddle in which she was suspended was more than just blood; the heat of the energy blast that had killed her had evidently liquefied her organs. Viscera had leaked out of the many battle-inflicted wounds she carried. Even his fiery princess couldn't withstand Metallia's heat, it seemed. A shame. Even in death she was beautiful.

Urgent voices caught Jadeite's attention. He looked up for a moment, towards the light of the Silver Crystal. It seemed he had found Serenity after all. He stood still for a moment, listening to the agitated voices argue, hands still in his princess's hair, lovingly stroking the sides of her face. The voices mentioned Princess Serena, whom he noticed lying dead nearby, her neck twisted at a gruesome angle. Nearby were the remains of her beloved prince, Darien. The hope of the Silver Millennium, the product of a thousand years of peace, dead in each others' arms.

"It's the only way."

Definitely Serenity, Jadeite thought. Time to end this.

Taking one more moment to look at Mars, Jadeite stood, walked past her.

He was standing at the edge of the crater. He could clearly make out Queen Serenity, lying flat on her back, breathing raggedly. The two wretched cats surrounded her. He hadn't known cats could cry.

Jadeite cleared his throat to speak, but found his words caught in his throat as Queen Serenity raised her moon scepter high above her head, and, in a strong, clear voice, incanted, "Cosmic Moon Power, fight this evil!"

The air hummed. The crystal glowed, a bright, blinding silver that enveloped everything. And Jadeite _burned_. Burned in more terrible agony than when he had taken his unholy oaths binding him to Beryl and Metallia for all eternity. The crystal flashed, silver and pure, and the Moon Kingdom ended, forgotten.

* * *

A/N: This story is actually mostly complete. It's going to be four chapters (not including the prologue). Thought that would be really cool, since Mars is the fourth planet away from the sun!


	2. Promises

**Beloved**

by adlyb

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor the unspeakable perfection that is Jadeite.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Promises **

If not for the dreams, it wouldn't be so bad. Rei loved being a Scout; it was everything she'd been searching for the first fourteen years of her life. When she was given her transformation pen, the feeling of the cold, slick metal in her hand had felt _right_. The nightly battles had soothed her rage, quelled it to a dull roar behind her ears. As Sailor Mars, she had learned to channel the rage, mold it into righteous flame. In the Scouts she had found kinship. In the hot death she inflicted upon youma nightly she felt giddy, sure-fast relief.

Rei was a star student, a model granddaughter, and, to her acute annoyance, with the possible exception of Darien, a popular target of male attention. Yet, apart from the dreams, Rei's life was more complete, more satisfying that it had ever been before.

And they were strange dreams. Bitter dreams, that left her longing, left the lingering taste of ashes in her mouth when she awoke. Often, there was a man, with sky blue eyes and warm skin—skin that pressed her close, coated her in ardent kisses and urgent caresses. She knew he was a man by the feel of his weight on her as she embraced him, the tightly corded feeling of muscle under her palms as she ran her nails down his back, urging him on. The dreams often ended the same way. After loving her, the man would rise, leaving her cold without the insistent warmth of his golden skin. That wasn't the worst though—the worst was when she would stand to chase after him. Inevitably, just as she was about to catch him, her flesh was stripped from her bones by a light too hot to bear. That, however, was _not _the worst part. The worst part was seeing the man, caught unaware, disappear under that light. Her own screaming was what eventually woke her up.

When she did wake up, did manage to quiet her heart, assure herself it was only a dream, Rei would try to justify their existence. The dreams had begun only a short while after she became aware of her identity as Sailor Mars—wasn't it plausible that these were only an expression of the fear she must subconsciously feel? The dreams were certainly terrifying. Although she was unable to understand their meaning—how did they relate to battling the Negaverse every night?—she was sure that they must be connected to the stress of her new secret identity.

Rei wiped a hand over her eyes, pushing her bangs back. Enough. She didn't have time for this sort of thing.

She climbed out of bed, her hot feet warming the cold floor boards. She had always run at a temperature well above normal. It was good to have an explanation for it now. When she was a child, her mother frequently believed she was running a fever. Although the doctors to which she had been dragged—no matter how often she told her mother she felt _fine_—consistently diagnosed her with fever, no likely cause had ever been found. Most of the time, they concluded she must be fighting infection. Rei had therefore spent much of her childhood on a healthy dose of antibiotics; because her parents assumed she was sickly, she was never allowed to play with other children. It wasn't until much later, when she came to live with her grandfather, that the protective film that had guarded her her whole life had been pealed away.

On Sundays, Ami, Serena and Luna came over to discuss Scout business. However, judging by the angle of the sun, it would probably be another few hours before they showed up. Enough time for Rei to complete a few chores around the temple.

She was glad to be old enough to help her grandfather now. She could never hope to repay him for the kindness he had shown her, but she felt that this was really the least she could do. He was too old to run the temple by himself. It made her feel good that she was needed, that she was capable of taking care of someone. It also made her feel good that she had kicked that Negascum Jed out of her temple.

Sighing at the memory, Rei finished tying the bow on the traditional Shinto garb she wore and crossed over to the building that housed the sacred flame. The heat of the eternally burning flame made her swelter inside her thick robes; however, the familiar gestures associated with the ritual comforted her. She looked into the future, searching for any trouble.

At first, nothing seemed to appear. She was about to give up when she caught it—the faintest flicker in the flames. Trouble.

Rising, Rei brushed the dust off of her and quietly closed the door behind her. She would need to warn the Scouts when they came by later. In the mean time, she pulled a broom out of the utility shed and spent the morning cleaning the shrine.

Ami showed up around two, Luna following close behind her.

"Hey, Ami!" Rei greeted her. She looked around. "Uh, where's Serena?"

Luna bowed her head, clearly exasperated.

"She's late. I couldn't tear her away from the new Sailor V game."

"That's so irresponsible! She needs to start taking this more seriously!"

"Be patient with her… She is getting better…"

Rei softened. "Yeah, you're probably right. Come on in guys. I guess we can start without her."

...

Serena showed up about forty-five minutes later.

"Hey, guys! Oh! Rei! Are those cookies! Yum!"

"Uh… Help yourself."

Luna chose that moment to jump up on the table.

"Good! We're all here. Now, let's get down to business. Does anyone care to fill Serena in on what she's missed?"

"You guys started without me?" she wailed.

Ami cleared her throat. "Well, we just thought it might be best to get the unimportant details out of the way, so you would only have to listen to the important parts." She paused, waiting for Serena to stop crying.

"Well," Serena said, putting her fingers up to her mouth, "I guess that's okay then."

"Good," Ami smiled. "Anyway, Rei seems to think the Negaverse may be up to something."

Everyone turned to look at her. Unnerved by the attention on her, she looked down at the table, idly tracing patterns in the wood grain.

"I consulted the sacred fire earlier today. It seems to indicate that there may be… trouble."

"Anything more specific?" Luna asked her carefully.

She shook her head.

"No. Whatever it is, it's too far off to coalesce. I can check later—"

"Great! So you're saying we don't have to worry about Jadeite or any of those Negascum for a while?" Serena piped in.

"No! That's not what I was saying—"

Before Rei could finish explaining, Serena had smacked three tickets down on the table.

"If there's no impending danger, I say we have some fun!"

Ami picked the tickets up. Her eyes bugged. "Serena, where did you possibly get these tickets?"

The blonde laughed. "Remember how I was late? I was competing in this video contest—first prize were these Valentine Croquette concert tickets! Ooooh!" she squealed. "The lead singer's such a bodacious hunk!"

A shiver ran down Rei's spine.

"Guys?" No one heard her over the merry babble of Serena's voice, the flustered falsetto of Luna's protests. She tried again, louder. "Guys?" Still no result. Finally, Rei slammed her hands down on the table. "Guys!"

Everyone looked at her.

"I have a bad feeling about this concert."

Luna and Ami both tilted their heads to the side considerately.

"I think we should check it out." Rei stood up, took the tray of cookies and drinks back into the kitchen to clean up.

As she was leaving the room, Rei could hear Serena crying.

"Oh man, why does this always happen to me?"

...

It was as they suspected. The concert was a hoax, designed to lure young girls in love with the mega-hot lead singer in so that the Negaverse could take their energy. So far, it had been working with outstanding success. Worse, it appeared that the lead singer had been none other than Jadeite. Rei felt sick when she considered all the girls who had lusted after him.

Screams erupted as the lights went out, as the other members of the band transformed into horrible youma and began zapping young girls of their energy. In the chaos, Rei was separated from the other Scouts.

Rei ducked, hurrying through the aisles. She hoped to be able to find somewhere where she could safely transform into Sailor Mars. There was a dark corridor up ahead. She hurried towards it, reaching into her purse for her transformation pen.

Energy crackled overhead.

"Stop! I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice—"

Good, she thought. Serena had transformed. This would all be over shortly.

She glanced behind her. Mercury had managed to transform as well. The fog produced by her Bubbles Blast clouded the room, making it hard to see. She bumped into a wall, and assumed she must have made it to the corridor. In just a moment, she would join them, and they would end this.

Rei raised her transformation pen high. In a clear, strong voice, she yelled, "Mars—"

A hand clapped over her mouth. Roughly, the pen was taken from her, before those same hands wrapped around her waist, guided her backwards. Rei's stomach heaved. It wasn't a wall she'd bumped into after all.

Vainly, she tried struggling, tried stomping on his foot or punching him in the stomach or face. Her efforts failed. She was held too tightly against him. Trapped.

"That's a nice trick you have there," her captor whispered in her ear. The voice was low and near. His breath tickled against the shell of her ear.

She raised her chin.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He laughed then, deep and rich. She could feel it vibrating through her back, making her ribs hum.

"Oh, I think you do, _Mars_."

She gasped. "How do you know…?"

His hands tightened on her waist, before moving up to her arms. His grip was crushing. Violently, he spun her around, until she was facing him, before pushing her up against the wall whose position she had so stupidly miscalculated. Her head cracked against it. Before she could react, her captor had pressed himself against her, moving his lips to the skin against her throat in an almost-kiss. Rei moaned quietly as warmth suffused her body. She could feel his lips twitch when he smiled. She clutched at his shoulders.

The mist began to clear. Hazily, she looked up, trying to make sense of what was happening. She noticed first the gray fabric of the tunic her hands clutched, the strange high collar and the golden hair just brushing the top of it. Her eyes travelled upward, until she was staring directly into bright, blue eyes. She gagged.

Jadeite, pinning her helplessly to the wall, his impossibly strong arms caging her between them.

Rei could still hear the sounds of battle in the background. Surely, her friends must notice she's missing?

She opened her mouth, about to scream for help.

"Please don't do anything I'll regret, Rei."

He'd called her by her name. Forced her to recall her previous question. Dumbly, she blinked at him.

He lowered his mouth to her ear in a gesture reminiscent of only a few moments earlier and whispered, "I know who you really are." Then, without waiting, he kissed her. It was over before she reacted. He turned away from her then, back to the battle. "They really are spectacular, don't you think?" he asked her. When she didn't respond, he just shrugged, walked away. Then, almost as an after thought, he tossed her pen back at her. "This, I believe, is yours."

Rei just stared at it. Didn't even try to transform. The rage bubbled in her. Through the rush, she could hear him.

"Party's over, boys. Let's bring this energy back to Beryl!" And then he was gone, and her friends were rushing to her.

"Rei! What happened out there? Why didn't you transform?"

Rei looked up at Serena. Decided she needed to lie.

"I must've gotten confused in the mists."

Ami studied her for a long moment, before asking, "Are you okay, Rei?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

...

After the debacle at the concert hall, Serena had offered to walk Rei home. Although she normally would have refused, she felt too shaken by tonight's events to brave the trek home alone. What if he came back?

"It sure is pretty out," Serena mused, looking up at the stars.

"Yeah, it's a full moon."

Serena smiled warmly at her.

Rei sighed. As irritating as Serena sometimes was, she was also profoundly kind. Perhaps that was why she was Sailor Moon, the destined leader of the Sailor Scouts, and she, Hino Rei, was only Sailor Mars.

"Do you see Mars, Rei?"

She turned, peeked up. "Yeah."

Stopping in front of the shrine, Serena surprised her by hugging her fiercely and whispering, "Of course you do. It's the brightest star of all."

And, whether or not Rei would ever admit it, loving Serena was irresistible, inevitable. A feeling etched into her bones before they had ever met.

Rei returned her embrace.

...

Slowly, Rei climbed the long line of steps up to the temple. Just like every night, before stepping inside, she stopped over by the bells near the well, and, clasping her hands together, said a quick prayer for her parents before gently ringing the bells.

Her grandfather was seated at the low table inside.

"Rei! Where've you been? I've been very worried about you!"

"Oh, I was just out, Grandpa! With Ami and Serena—you know, the girls who were over here this afternoon?"

"Oh, yes." He blushed. "Well, I guess it's natural for young ladies to go out once in a while. Did you have fun?"

Rei blanched, remembering the feel of Jadeite's hot hands on her skin, but recovered quickly. "Yeah, it was great!" she assured her loving grandfather.

"Well, that's all that's important. Are you going to bed now, Rei?"

She stretched, pretended to yawn. "Yeah, I'm exhausted. Goodnight, Grandpa."

"Goodnight, Rei."

Once alone, Rei ran to her bathroom, gingerly felt along her pounding skull—the skull Jadeite had cracked—until she found the crust of dried blood. Thinking of someone doing that to her made her seethe.

"You'll fry for this, Jadeite. Do you hear me?" she whispered through grit teeth. "Do you hear me?"

...

Her dreams mirrored those of the previous night, of the previous _weeks_. Again, she felt herself held tight against a strong, beautiful chest. Her hands—warmer than those of other girls—smoothed down the man's laterals, ghosting over the tense muscles in his back and then down, far enough to make her blush.

Rei gasped as he touched her collarbone, traced calloused fingers over the delicate skin of her throat, down to her breast. His mouth was on her then, making her breath faster and sharper than before.

He growled, and for a moment, Rei thought there was something familiar about the voice. But her thoughts soon evaporated as he continued to knead her flesh, as his touch caused flames to jump from her fingers.

Hot, his skin was so _hot_. How was that possible?

Rei tossed her head back, squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't know. She didn't care. As long as he kept his head low to her breast _she didn't care_.

"Ungh…"

She could feel his smirk, could feel the lascivious, lustful tongue flicking out and then he was biting her, claiming her, and she was screaming, screaming as his fingers brushed along her inner thigh.

Her eyes popped open, and she was caught staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes.

For the first time, Rei woke up screaming for different reasons.

...

Rei brushed it off. A dream. Nothing more. Sure, it was different from the usual ones, but that was just a reflection of the disturbing events that had occurred yesterday. The disturbing and unique events, that would never, _could never_, happen again. Sure.

She applied herself thoroughly to her studies, to the many extra-curriculars and committees to which she belonged. By two-thirty, the previous day's incidents had slipped her mind.

"Hey, Rei, wait up!"

She turned around on her walk home from school.

"Darien!" she smiled.

"Hey, are you interested in catching that movie? You know, the one you mentioned the other day?"

She paused, trying to remember. "Yeah… the action film?"

"Yeah!"

Rei tucked her hair behind her ears, tilted her head at what she knew was her most becoming angle, before threading her arms through his and telling him she would love to.

...

Serena watched as Rei left with Darien. She didn't know why, but something about seeing those two together made her furious. Well, as furious as she ever got, which wasn't really very much. But still!

"The two deserve each other anyway," Serena mumbled to herself.

She sighed. It was just one of those days. If seeing Rei all over Darien (_her Darien! _a small voice in the back of her mind wailed) wasn't enough, losing all of her allowance on a few poorly executed rounds of the newest game in the arcade—while Andrew was _watching_, she thought miserably—and scoring a 25 on her latest test certainly was. She glared at the offensive score. Looking at it only made her want to crumple the mega stupid thing up.

"Hey! That's actually a totally awesome idea!"

Glancing back at the dark-haired couple, Serena fashioned a crude missile out of her test and aimed for Darien's head. There would be no shame in throwing the test at him—he already knew she wasn't so hot at the school stuff anyway! Ha! And besides, she'd be able to hide behind the bushes and watch Darien look for whoever threw it in total safety! He'd never catch her… Perfect!

Just as Serena was lobbing the missile at him, a child knocked into her, causing her to trip and miscalculate the angle. The test-missile thwacked into the back of Rei's head.

"Ow!" she howled.

Serena's eyes bugged out of her head. No, no, no, no, no, no…. Better go hide in those bushes!

"Rei, are you alright?" Darien asked her, worry evident, even from where Serena was standing.

Rei didn't answer him. Instead, she just turned, slowly, and glared straight at her. God, she was creepy! How did she _do _that? She shuddered. Yeee.

Rei marched over to her.

"Serena, get out here, right now!"

"Oh, how did you know it was me?"

"Meatball Head? You threw this at Rei?" Darien tossed the test up in the air before catching it and unraveling it. He quirked a brow. "A 25? Definitely yours."

"Oh! I didn't throw it at Rei, I threw it at you!"

Darien smirked. "Well, that's still real immature of you, but with your aim, I believe you."

Serena was about to defend herself when she noticed Rei reach up to pat the back of her head. Thinking back on it, Rei had really hollered when the test-missile hit her. Now she was rubbing it like it was sore. Strange. It was just wadded up paper… She should've barely noticed it.

When Rei's hand came down, Serena noticed faint traces of red liquid on her fingertips.

"Rei! You're bleeding!"

"Huh?" The girl looked down at her hand. "Oh. That's strange!" she laughed. "I don't know how that happened!"

Serena looked closely at her. She was lying—she was sure of it. Something seemed wrong.

"Rei—I'm sorry I hit you."

"Oh… That's fine, Serena. Really. I just overreacted."

Darien shifted uncomfortably between the two.

"So, Rei, do you still want to catch that movie?"

Rei looked up at him, and watching the look she shared with him, Serena felt sick.

"Yeah. That sounds like a great idea," she answered, smiling cheerily. She turned. "Bye, Serena. Nice seeing you."

Darien nodded in her direction before returning his attention to Rei.

Ugh! It was so unfair!

Surreptitiously, Rei reached back and patted the back of her scalp again.

"Definitely something wrong," Serena concluded.

...

Rei peered at herself in the mirror. That had been close with Serena. She wondered if she suspected anything. She hoped not. That would be… Too horrible to imagine.

She clapped her hands together, determined to put the horrible weekend behind her. Her scalp would heal, and then there would be nothing to remind her of that bizarro interlude with Jadeite.

Her scalp did heal. It had only been a surface wound, really. As time passed, her sleep became more restful and the vague threat of Jadeite seemed to dissipate.

What Rei was unable to excuse was when it happened again.

...

The youma they were battling tonight had tricked people into believing they would be able to talk to dead loved ones through a special séance. When the images of their dead loved ones appeared, causing heightened emotions in the ones left behind, the victims' energy was sucked into the crystal ball the youma possessed.

The worst part was that she, too, had been duped.

...

Rei was a priestess. She prided herself on her ability to differentiate the truly supernatural from the affectations of those looking to make a quick buck.

When the advertisements first appeared promoting Tia Alma's midnight séances, Rei had scoffed. Yet, very soon, she began to overhear her classmates talking about their experiences—their _authentic experiences_. There was no way it could be a hoax, they claimed. They had gone in without giving Tia Alma any information about their deceased loved ones, and _she was still able to conjure their spirits from the beyond. _

Rei quickly decided it was her duty as a Scout to check it out. However, she decided to keep it to herself for now. If it _was _legit… Well, if it was legit, she may want to visit herself.

It wasn't at all the tacky hole-in-the-wall, overdone shack she had expected. Instead, it was an apparently normal house. When Rei rang the doorbell, a tall, middle-aged woman answered the door. The woman was lovely. Slender, with dark, silver-shot hair tied back and strange, clear eyes.

"Hello?"

"Hi. I'm here for Tia Alma?"

"Yes?"

"Are you her?"

The woman smiled. "I am."

"Oh." Rei concentrated… and felt the edges of true spiritual power emanating from this woman. She swallowed. It was true. "I, uh, I heard that if… If I wanted to contact… Contact the dead… That you were the one to see." Her voice squeaked at the end.

That smile again. "Yes. That's correct."

She had to do it. She had to do it.

"How?"

...

Rei had been given clear instructions to come back later that night, at eight-thirty. When she asked why that time in particular, Tia Alma had smiled, told her that she was booked until then. To be sure she remembered, Tia Alma had given Rei a leaf of parchment with the time and address written neatly in the top left-hand corner. Rei approved of how reasonable she was. No hokey props or presumptuous superstition.

She bumped into Ami on her way back from Tia Alma's.

"Oh, Rei! I'm so glad we ran into each other."

"Oh, hey, Ami. What's up?"

"I was thinking of that attack last week, at the concert."

"Uh-huh…"

"Well, I just thought of something that hadn't occurred to me before. I think it's important. Can we meet tonight at your place to talk about it? I know Serena's free."

Rei almost agreed, but felt the coarse texture of the parchment itch against her palms.

"Actually… I'm kinda booked tonight. Do you think it can wait until tomorrow?"

"Sure. Out of curiosity, what's going on tonight?"

Rei wasn't sure why, but she felt she needed to lie about her whereabouts tonight.

"Oh, I'm meeting with a few girls from my school to talk about plans for the annual fundraiser fare… You know the one I'm talking about."

Ami nodded and smiled in that pleasant way of hers, completely trusting.

Rei felt a little guilty for deceiving her, but, focusing on tonight, she tamped the feelings down. It would be worth it.

"Well, good luck! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, bye!"

...

At home, Rei braced herself over her vanity mirror, examining her reflection. She turned her face from side to side, trying to find traces of familial resemblance in her face. Frankly, she couldn't find any.

Didn't mean anything, she told herself.

She smiled, the brilliant, beautiful smile men always seemed to notice and decided to tie a red bow in her hair. She wanted to look nice. She dressed in her favorite red dress, with the dramatic princess sleeves and matched it with a string of pearls that had belonged to her mother.

The clock chimed. Eight o'clock. Rei paced for a few moments, back and forth, before deciding she could be a few minutes early and just wait outside Tia Alma's until it was time.

Rei didn't have to wait long. As she was arriving, a couple staggered out of the room, tears streaming down their faces. They looked really haggard. _Just the strain of seeing their loved one after so much time_, she told herself. She wondered in what sort of shape she would be after this. Bracing herself, Rei climbed the steps up to Tia Alma's door.

Knocking gently, Rei pushed Tia Alma's door open.

"Hello?"

"Rei?" Tia Alma stepped into the front room. "Oh, Rei, you look lovely!"

She could feel her cheeks heat. "Thank you." She paused, considered, before she continued, "I wanted to look nice."

"Of course." Tia Alma took her hand. "Oh! You must be nervous. Your hand is awfully warm."

Rei froze. "Yeah…"

"Well, that's understandable. Here, follow me."

Tia Alma led Rei into the back.

The room wasn't terribly large, but it was very inviting. Furnished with comfortable easy chairs and plush sofas, it looked like any other family living room Rei had ever seen. Soft yellow light filtered underneath shaded lamps. Tia Alma gestured to the left, and Rei saw, tucked underneath a pocket window, a round wooden table with two kitchen chairs pulled up to it. Placed neatly in the center of the table was the token crystal ball. Rei smiled.

"I know, terribly cliché of me—the fortune-teller with a crystal ball. But it's just that—a crystal. It helps me focus my energy."

Rei nodded. "I understand." She clapped her hands together. "So! How do we do this?"

"Well, first, I need payment in advance. I can't guarantee results, you see, and I don't want people refusing to pay if results aren't satisfactory."

"That makes sense." Rei dug into her purse, handing Tia Alma the stack of bills she had pulled out of her savings account for this.

"Very good. Now, let's begin!" Tia Alma led Rei over to the table, had her sit across from her and close her eyes. "Think, Rei. Who are you trying to contact?"

"My parents."

"What were their names?"

"Hino Mark and Hino Ana."

"Did they die together, or apart?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. I need to know whether to look for them as a pair or separately."

"Together."

"And how long ago did they pass?"

"Four years ago."

"How did they die?"

She gulped past the lump forming in her throat.

"Fire."

Rei felt energy flowing through the palms Tia Alma was still holding gently in her hands. Suddenly, she clutched at her hands.

Rei's eyes snapped open. Looking out at her from the crystal ball were her parents.

"Mama? Daddy?"

They smiled at her from behind the foggy glass.

"Can they hear me?" she asked Tia Alma.

"Yes."

"Why aren't they saying anything?"

"They cannot speak to you directly… They must use me as a medium."

"What do they say?"

"They say they love you very much. That you are very beautiful, and that they are so proud of you. And… they forgive you."

Tears trickled down her face.

"I love you too, Mama! I love you, Daddy!"

Rei was crying in full now. For whatever reason, she just couldn't stop the flood from bursting the dam. Yet, looking at the sweet, beloved faces of her parents, Rei felt relieved. It would be okay to cry. She could just sit here, looking at them.

Tia Alma's hands clutched hers tighter. The image in the crystal glowed brighter.

Strange. She felt so weak… Almost like she was going to pass out. She remembered outside, before she had come in. The couple that had passed her had seemed drained as well.

"So much energy!" Tia Alma muttered. "Who would have expected all this from one little girl?"

Her words seemed out of place, but Rei was unable to determine how. All she was really aware of was the transfixing image in the crystal ball.

Another power surge. Rei looked harder at the faces in the crystal. Where before there had been the smiling faces of her parents, Rei saw only rotted cadaver skulls, grinning ghoulishly back at her. She tried to scream, but found she had trouble breathing. Screaming was impossible. When she tried to struggle, to break free of Tia Alma's grasp, she realized she no longer had the energy to move.

Lies. More Negaverse lies.

Rei had been a Sailor Soldier for a little over a month. In that time, she had seen some strange, disturbing things. But it had never been personal before. Even when Jadeite had invaded her temple, had defamed the name of the Hikawa Shrine with his ridiculous disappearing bus act, it hadn't seemed personal. This—this was personal.

Her hands, still trapped in Tia Alma's iron grasp, heated. The rage pounded behind her ears, filling her head with blood. She glanced back at the crystal, rapidly filling with her energy, at the two grinning perturbations of nature inside—the perturbations that had made her believe she was _forgiven_. How _dare _they?

Flame leapt from her palms, encircling Tia Alma's forearms and dancing up her body, setting her afire.

"You wench!" she screeched as she stumbled backward, releasing Rei. She placed her hand over her face, and in a sickening motion tore the skin off her face to reveal the youma beneath.

The youma was huge. Eight feet tall, Rei estimated, and ugly, with too many razor-sharp, edged legs.

"Look, lady, you don't know who you're messing with." Jamming her hand into her purse, she pulled out her slick red transformation pen, and, in the name of the planet Mars, yelled, "Mars Power!"

Instantaneously, she was engulfed in flame, revealing her true identity, Sailor Mars.

"A Sailor Scout? Perfect! I'll have a place of immaculate glory if I bring your head back—"

"Cut the small talk, Negascum! This is personal!" Mars didn't wait for a rebuttal. Instead, she folded her fingers into the shape of a gun, "Mars Fire," and pointed them at the youma, "Ignite!"

Fire blasted from her fingers, engulfing the youma. For a moment, she was certain she had won. Then it burst out of the fire and slammed her through the window and onto the streets. Mars's head cracked against the asphalt, and she swore. How many times did her head have to get slammed like that?

The youma leered at her, hideous teeth gleaming sharply in the moonlight. "Gotcha."

"Stop!"

Mars felt relief course through her veins at the sound of that voice—the beloved, dear voice of Sailor Moon, come to rescue her.

"Who are you?" the youma asked. "Another Sailor Scout?"

"I am Sailor Moon! Champion of Justice! And on behalf of the Moon, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil… And that means you!"

Mercury jumped down from a neighboring building.

"I am Sailor Mercury! On behalf of the planet Mercury, I will punish you!"

The youma ground Mars's face against the asphalt. "Don't move or your little Sailor Snot buddy gets it!"

"Pah-leeeze!"

The youma's grip moved down to Mars's throat, tightening threateningly.

"She really means it, Sailor Moon!" Mercury screamed.

"Mercury, I don't know what to do… I'm scared."

Mars shut her eyes. That was Serena for you… Giving up.

Just then, the youma screamed, released Mars from her grip.

Mars opened her eyes and saw, not a foot from her face, a crimson red rose. Tuxedo Mask had saved her. She felt her body flush as she searched the rooftops for him.

"Didn't anybody ever tell you to play nice?"

That was his voice! Where was it coming from?

"Who are you?" the youma spat.

"A friend of the Sailor Scouts."

"Then you'll die too!" The youma's snapped her hands together. As she spoke, a large, yellow ball of energy began to coalesce in the cup of her palms.

Mars looked over to the Scouts.

Sailor Moon's eyes were huge, her mouth agape. "What is that?" she whispered.

Mars didn't know.

Tuxedo Mask, on the other hand, seemed to be on top of things. "That's an energy cannon, Sailor Moon. I would act quickly if I were you. Sailor Mercury, I suggest you use your bubbles."

Mercury nodded, and, in that graceful, deliberate way of hers, blasted her Mercury Bubbles at the youma.

Mars knew Sailor Moon would make her move any moment now. In just a second, the youma would be moon dust, destroyed by the unerring accuracy of her tiara. She couldn't stand the idea. Her fury demanded that she personally destroy this youma.

Snapping a sutra out of her robes, Mars blessed it, "I call upon the power of Mars, fight this evil!" She charged the youma then, affixing the sutra to its stunned face. "Burn in Hell," she whispered as it dissolved into ash.

When the fog cleared, Tuxedo Mask was gone, and the Scouts were more than a little surprised to find Mars huddled in a ball on the street, next to the remains of the youma, crying.

...

At home, Rei braced herself over her vanity mirror, examining her reflection. She turned her face from side to side, trying to find traces of familial resemblance in her face. Frankly, she couldn't find any.

Didn't mean anything, she told herself. Just that she really didn't have anything left from her parents.

She was just brushing her hair, preparing herself to go to bed when she noticed it. Something in the atmosphere had changed, stirring the air in her room, causing the curtains over her windows to flutter.

Rei whirled around, found Jadeite leaning against her vanity.

"Lovely fight tonight, Rei. Executed like a real pro."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped.

He laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are we still playing this game? Seems a little childish to me, pretending you don't know that I know your real self."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she repeated, mumbling into her chest this time.

To her intense discomfort, Jadeite crossed the room, put his hands on the sides of her face, forcing her to look at him.

"Tell me, Rei."

She looked at him. She didn't want to consider how he knew something was on her mind. Decided to just go along with it instead of arguing with him, though. Too tired for anything else.

"I need to know. Did the youma tonight belong to you?"

"Yes." His tone was utterly unapologetic.

"Why?" Her eyes filled with tears again as she remembered realizing she had been deceived. "Why would you hurt people like that?"

"Because I must, Rei. Because it is the only way."

She slapped him. The force of her blow barely moved him.

"I hate you! Do you hear me, Jadeite! I hate you!"

"You really don't remember, do you, beloved Mars?"

Beloved Mars. The endearment made her want to wretch.

"Remember what?"

Jadeite smiled, this small, creepy smile, like he was enjoying some private joke.

"You'll remember soon, love. I promise."


	3. What Seems Like a Lifetime Ago

**Beloved**

by adlyb

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I own the unspeakable perfection that is Jadeite.

A/N: _Wow_, this took a while to write. Anyway, more importantly, for the purposes of this story, I've readjusted the show's timeline just a little bit… Mostly, Darien and Rei start dating earlier than in the show.

Also, I'd like to comment on my choice to use the dub's names… Although it's not as "pure" as the original, I grew up watching the dub… So, c'est la vie.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 2: What Seems Like a Lifetime Ago**

At school the next day, she tried to pretend that things were normal. She went through all of her classes by rote, spewing out answers without really minding whether or not they were correct. It appeared that no one noticed how tired she looked, or the way she was shivering in her seat.

_Why doesn't anyone notice? _she thought. _Can't they see there's something wrong_?

Perhaps her years held apart from other children had permanently impaired her ability to interact with others, had ruined her chances at making friends. Perhaps that was why no one was able to tell that she, the implacable Hino Rei, was struggling so desperately.

For a moment, she resented her parents for keeping her in a bubble. However, just as the thought appeared she violently smashed it. She could never be angry with her parents. Never never.

Rei shivered, went back to focusing on not remembering last night. It was a vain attempt.

Ever since he left her, she'd been inexplicably cold. If she closed her eyes, she was able to draw upon enough sense-memory to feel his warm breath on her skin, as he told her, _"You'll remember soon, love. I promise." _

She scowled. How _dare _he speak to her like that? He wasn't her boyfriend. Besides, he was _way _totally too old for her. Freaking pervert.

Rei put a hand over her face, closed her eyes. Regretted it immediately. It was too easy to focus on the details of his face without outside stimulus. The details of his perfect, golden, beautiful face…

...

_Rei is dreaming. _

The hot sand whips at her legs, burns her face and shoulders as she waits at their secret spot.

_No one must know_, _she realizes._

In the distance, the sun, a great, bloody egg in the sky, begins to edge toward the horizon, painting everything in red haze.

She shifts uneasily. If he does not come soon, she will have to leave to find shelter for the night. A night on Mars would be difficult to endure.

A hand grasps her shoulder. She has already opened her mouth to scream when he breaths, low in her ear, "It's only me, dear one."

Only Jason.

_Rei does not recognize the name, but she recognizes the voice, knows to whom it belongs. _

"How did you sneak up on me?"

She can feel his smile against her throat.

"I'm a warrior, beloved Mars. Never underestimate me."

She turns in his arms, twining her arms around his neck and smashing her lips to his. Their teeth chink together jaggedly, but she doesn't care. For just a moment, she tears herself away, just long enough to tell him that they need to get inside before the sun goes down.

Inside, she has lit a fire, big enough to keep them warm, but too small to generate much smoke. Pressed against the wall is a cot, a pile of old blankets.

Taking her hand, he guides her around the fire to the cot. His hands move to her waist, guide her on to her back. He strokes her, from neck down to belly, before moving his hands over the buttons lining the front of her dress. The red material slides from her shoulders, revealing smooth white planes and rounded flesh.

_Rei feels ill when he does this, but finds that she cannot control her own body. It works without her permission. _

"You're beautiful," he breathes before tracing a finger over the curve of her collar bones.

"Take your gloves off."

He pauses. Looks down at his hands, flexes, and, quite deliberately, removes each glove, finger by finger.

Gently, he lays his palm over her left breast, over her beating heart.

"Your hand is hot," she murmurs.

"Yes… So is yours." He smiles, that beautiful, wistful smile he sometimes has, as she moves her warm hand to touch his face. He needs no more encouragement. His hands are truly on her then, equally caressing and bruising her flesh as he tugs her remaining undergarments off, rids himself of his uniform.

And then he is poised above her, beautiful and golden. Oh, Gods—he is inside of her, above her, surrounding her and filling her to the heart with love with every thrust. She is spinning, spinning, spinning, down that liquid path of golden fire and with each stroke she is a little farther away from the girl she was, before she had ever met this man. His hot, so terribly hot, hands move between their bodies, and then he is touching her, making her feel pleasure such as she has never known before and his skin is scalding her but she doesn't care, because she is terribly, unexpectedly in love.

...

"Miss Hino? Are you with us?"

Rei's eyes snapped open. She must've fallen asleep at her desk.

"Miss Hino? I asked you a question."

She raised her eyes, blushed when he made eye contact with her. "Sorry, sir," she murmured. "It won't happen again."

"I should hope not. Go stand in the hall."

"Yes, sir." Rei stood, wiping the slight drool that had dribbled down her chin. The memory of her dream swam to the surface and she shuttered. Jadeite's words echoed through her head, louder and more ominous than before. Was it true? Was that dream… a memory? The possibility was nearly too horrible for Rei to consider. Yet the memory of his body pressed to hers had felt so _right_, as though it had always been.

The bell rang. Her classmates streamed out of the class, flooding the hallways. An uncharacteristic shiver raced up Rei's spine. In just a few minutes, she would be on the streets of Tokyo again, and anything could happen.

Reaching her hand into her bag, Rei clutched at the transformation pen Luna had given her only a few short weeks ago. The feel of the metal against her skin calmed her, gave her immediate comfort and strength. She was Sailor Mars, worst nightmare of the Negaverse. She could do this.

She paid special attention as she walked home from school, careful not to step on any cracks in the sidewalk or walk under any ladders. She didn't have enough luck to spare on superstitions. The thought made her think about buying a good luck charm, but that only brought her back to thoughts of Jadeite.

By the time Serena bumped into her, she was in a very, very bad mood.

"Serena!"

"Hey, Rei! You should check out this new contest—you can win two free tickets on the Sunset Romance Cruise Ship!" she chirped. Luna was at her heels.

For the first time, Rei noticed the large crowd huddled around one of the many booths on the street. The sign Serena indicated described a romantic getaway for two. Rei couldn't stop herself from imagining what a cruise with Jadeite would be like. _Probably the cruise from hell. _

"Why would I want to go on that? I don't even have a boyfriend." The words were out of her mouth before she could help them.

Serena sidled up to her. "You _could _take along a special friend…"

"You mean you? No way! Why would I want to get stuck on a boat with the world's biggest brat?"

Rei turned, ready to leave, when a thought struck her. She _could _enter the contest… and take Darien with her on the cruise. _That _would clear her mind right up!

Rei pushed her way through the crowd, Serena following close behind. She dug into her purse, producing a thick wad of bills. "I'd like to try, please."

The salesman behind the counter eyed the stack of cash in her hand, shrugged and told her, "It's your money, Miss."

Rei closed her eyes, clasped her hands together. To the outside observer, it would look like she was praying. A deep shuttering spread through her bones as she focused on the winning ball, separated it from the others and summoned it to her. She cranked the lever, one, two, three times, faster and faster, until a small, perfectly round, golden ball flew from the spout into the tray.

"Hey!" Serena wailed.

The salesman ducked down to squint at the ball ringing his bell and proclaiming, "That's it… We have a winner! A winner for the Sunset Cruise! The contest's over!"

She at least had the grace to feign surprise. "Yay! Yay! I won! Alright!"

She should have suspected that Serena would follow her around, begging to go on the cruise with her. Rei stomped over to a bench, waiting out Hurricane Serena.

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" she snapped.

"Winning two tickets is making you grumpy… Let me take them off your hands!"

"Look, get out of my face, alright?"

Serena bent down low, as per usual doing the opposite of what she was asked. "Gonna take Grandpa?" She made the idea ugly.

"Not funny!"

"But who else do you know to go with you?"

"Maybe I'll run into that cutie-pie Tuxedo Mask…" Rei paused. "Or maybe I'll just ask Darien."

"No way! You can't _do _this to me! Come on, Rei, entering this contest was totally my idea! And Tuxedo Mask is mine!"

"But not Darien?" She smiled, before getting up and leaving a very flustered Serena behind.

...

Finding Darien was easy—getting him to agree to a weekend alone with her was a little harder, but with a few charming smiles, she managed.

Rei hummed to herself as she strapped her suitcase down, said goodbye to her grandfather for the weekend, and took a bus to the docks. Darien had agreed to meet her there half an hour before the cruise was scheduled to leave.

When she got there, Darien was already waiting. She smiled, flashing dimples and pearly white teeth at him. She imagined candle-lit dinners with him, nights of dancing and watching the sun set over the water… Imagined the natural progression of their relationship and what it would be like to actually _kiss _him… Not that she didn't know what kissing was like already.

"Stop it, Rei! Darien! Think Darien!" she scolded herself under her breath.

"Rei!" Darien waved before jogging to catch up to her.

"Hey, Darien! Aren't you excited? This is going to be _sooo_ romantic!"

"Yeah… about that… Look, Rei, I really want to go, but a friend of mine is really sick, and doesn't have anyone else to look after him."

She looked at him dumbly.

"So I can't go on the cruise."

"Oh."

"I feel really bad about this, Rei, but I don't know what else to do. I'll make it up to you though."

"Okay."

"You should still go, though—I think it'll be a blast!"

"Yeah."

"See you on Monday when you get back, then?"

"Definitely." She smiled at him, all charm lost.

"Uh… Later, Rei."

"Yeah. Later." She waved weakly as he left.

...

It so wasn't fair. Her one opportunity to be alone with Darien without stupid Serena or stupid youma interrupting her every five minutes and his friend got sick. At least Darien was off being a nice guy. That was… kind of what she liked about him. She sighed, imagining his soft eyes, the kindness he would demonstrate while helping a sick friend get better. Why couldn't she have that?

The room Rei had been assigned was simple yet elegant. An ample queen sized bed was the focus of the room, with a comfy sofa underneath the round window which gave her an ocean view. Without someone to share it with, though, the room wasn't very much.

"I guess I should check out what's going on on deck," she sighed.

Of course, she was the only one who'd come _alone_.

She took to wandering the deserted portions of the ship. It didn't really occur to her that those places were off-limits until a tall, dark man stepped out from behind a flight of stairs.

"Miss, this area is off limits. You're going to have to go back to the front of the ship." He was just through saying this when he really _looked _at her. Rei wasn't certain what, but something in his expression shifted, melted into something almost tender.

_Majorly hot_, she told herself, _and I bet he's just like Darien. _

"I'm sorry," she told him, "I must've just gotten lost. It's an awfully big ship." She stepped up to him, until she was near enough to feel his body warmth.

He extended his white gloved hand, asked her, "May I have the honor of escorting you back to the front?"

His dark eyes were entirely alluring, and Rei couldn't help but stutter out an _of course_.

...

Jadeite took her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm. Didn't matter to him that Rei was unaware of his true identity—he still enjoyed the feel of her snug against his body.

Part of him was really surprised she didn't recognize him. When he found her outside, he'd been sure she would challenge him to a battle. Instead, she'd just looked adoringly into his eyes. Couldn't help but be snug about the evidence of her physical attraction to him.

Titus called to him just as they stepped back inside. He cursed her timing. "Captain? We need your assistance below deck."

Jadeite nodded, waited for her to leave before turning to Rei. "I have to get back to my duties… But I would like to see more of you. Would you join me for dinner?"

A faint, rosy blush spread across the bridge of her nose.

"Dinner?" she repeated, bashfully avoiding eye contact.

He nudged her just slightly, willing her to look at him. The nudge worked, and her eyes slipped on his stare.

"Yes. I would be delighted."

"Good. I'll see you at seven." He saluted, before following his 'second mate' back into the captain's quarters.

...

Rei had a wonderful time at dinner. The captain was really very charming, seemed to be knowledgeable about a wide array of topics. Even when Rei tried to stump him, with subjects like classical mythology and the minute tenets of the Shinto religion, he knew what he was talking about. He was also very funny, and, although it may have been the wine he gave her in plentiful supply, Rei found herself laughing all night.

When dinner ended, the intercom came on, inviting everyone to meet in the Reception Room for a night of dancing. The captain had taken Rei's hand, escorted her down the long hallway and into the room.

"I'm supposed to go on stage," he told her, "but I'll be back for a dance." He winked.

The man was beautiful. Standing on stage in his starched uniform, his broad shoulders accentuated by the military cut and his eyes catching the light from the dimmed chandeliers, he was everything Rei wanted. She felt unbelievably lucky to have his attention for the night.

His first mate was beautiful as well, of course. So beautiful, with her navy-green hair and aquamarine eyes, that Rei, the audacious, confident Rei, felt jealous.

The woman's words caught Rei's attention.

"We're going to start off tonight with a little black magic," she announced, as she splayed her red, talon-like fingernails wide.

The captain's arm shot out, capturing her wrist. He looked her in the eye, whispered something in her ear.

The woman cleared her throat. "Oh. Oh. I'm terribly sorry. I must've gotten my lines mixed up," she laughed nervously. "Let's… Start with a dance." She snapped her fingers, and music filtered in through the room.

The captain stepped down from the dais. The crowd parted before him, and then he was standing there, right in front of her.

"Would you care to dance?" he asked, a perfect image of gentlemanly chivalry.

"I would love to," she replied, placing her hand in his and feeling waves of excitement as he wrapped his other hand around her waist and guided her through the steps.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked gently.

She looked into his dark eyes. "Very much. This has all been just so… perfect."

Rei frowned. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about this dance seemed familiar… As if she had done it before. Was it the dance itself, the venue, or her dance partner? Each seemed equally impossible. She didn't know what sort of dance she was doing, only that the captain was remarkably good at leading. She sighed, nestling her head against his chest. For no reason at all, she felt safe with him. Overwhelming feelings of satisfaction and elation overtook her when she considered what might happen later tonight. Nothing too indecent, but maybe—

She felt faint. The lights danced like strobes, and then she was too tired to stand, too tired to remain conscience.

...

Jadeite caught her easily. When he had ordered Titus to let him have a dance with the girl before she used her love-energy sucking machine, he hadn't been sure whether or not it would affect Rei. He supposed he had his answer now.

He took a moment to observe the girl he held limp in his arms. She was beautiful. Her eyes, now shut, were that fleeting shade of violet. Her long, glossy dark hair billowed to her knees, a length nearly impossible to keep on Earth. The bones of her face, her wrists, seemed fragile in this light, collapsible, and Jadeite, had he not known any better, may have suspected her of being much weaker than she was in reality.

"Who's this?" Titus, behind him, perpetually curious.

At that moment, Jadeite understood that if he wanted his plans to succeed, he would have to lie until the very end, when those plans came to fruition.

"No one of consequence."

Jadeite laid the unconscious girl upon the floor, carefully arranging her legs, peeping out under a characteristic red dress, for modesty. For just a moment, Jadeite examined the gloves she wore on her hands. Even a thousand years later, she still worried her hands might seem too warm.

"I'll be back," he whispered, before touching a finger to her temple.

A loud crash caught his attention, caused him to stand. He turned, saw that the doors of the reception hall had been forced open. Standing in the golden light were the Sailor Scouts. Could he never be rid of them?

...

This was so totally typical. Here she was, on the middle of a cruise ship in the middle of nowhere, and the Negaverse _still _ruined it! Serena was just glad she'd convinced Ami to sneak on board with her. After all, _two _totally hot, trendy photographers were _way _more realistic than just one!

On the count of three, Serena and Ami, transformed into Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury, burst through the door, into the Reception Hall where the Negaverse plot was unfolding.

What they didn't expect? Jadeite, leaning over an unconscious Rei.

Mercury's eyes met hers. They held the same question as her own. _Does he know? _

They would have remained frozen, staring, as Jadeite turned to attack, had Luna not spurred them into action.

"Right," Sailor Moon muttered, before leaping up to the window sill and declaring, "Stop! For I am Sailor Moon!"

"You can save it, girls."

Sailor Moon looked down.

Standing right under her was a tall, beautiful woman, her hair pinned up. Something about her gave her the creeps.

"Well, in that case, we don't have to warn you," yelled Mercury across the room. She crossed her arms, head bent, before sending out her Mercury Bubbles to fog the room.

...

Cool mist slid over Rei's face. Her eyes batted open. What had happened? The last thing she remembered, she'd been dancing with that really cute captain…

Through the mists, Rei couldn't see anything. It was a mist she recognized—Mercury Mist. A hazy image of a planet enshrouded in these mists wavered through her mind, before disappearing. She shook her head.

In the background, she could hear Serena and Ami. That could only mean one thing.

Standing, Rei searched until she found her transformation pen. With as much resolve as she could muster, she called, "Mars Power!"

Flames shot out from her pen, wrapping around her, transforming her into the powerful Sailor Mars.

Blindly, Mars ran through the mists, trying to gain a sense of what was happening. Finally, she found the stage, decided to climb up to get a better view. Unfortunately, Jadeite was there too.

"Hello, Mars. Enjoying the cruise?"

She looked at the details of his face—so similar to those of the captain. Put two and two together.

"Not anymore."

"Too bad. We had such a lovely time together."

Mars closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was ready to fry him, just like she had promised herself she would.

"Not too fast, Mars. Foreplay is the best part." He jumped out of the way, leaving her flustered, face to face with the first mate. Call it paranoid, but Mars suspected she wasn't really a crew member either.

"You certainly _were _giving Jad a lot of trouble there… I can't have that!" Bubbly laughter slid from her throat.

"_Jad?_ You actually call that creep _Jad_?"

"Well, aren't we a little jealous? But of course, if I were plain like you, I'd be jealous too!"

"Plain?" Mars closed her eyes, focused her energy, sent her Mars Fire at the woman. Watched in dismay as the woman—_youma_—sent a spigot of water to quash her flame.

"Not very strong either. Jadeite will _never _notice you!" She pointed a white finger, pushing a torpedo of water in Mars's direction.

Out here, Mars, realized, she had an unlimited supply of ammo.

"Jadeite will be _so _pleased when I crush you, Sailor Brat! Ha! Sailor! As if you deserve the name!"

"God, what _is it _with your obsession with Jadeite?"

The woman's features shifted, out of the pretty smooth ones she had been wearing and into ugly possessive ones. She grew taller, thinner, paler, until her true form was revealed. "Jadeite is _mine_, girl. I love him and he's _mine_. Do you understand?"

Mars's final tendril of control cracked. Memories began to cycle through her head, a merry-go-round of dreams and actual encounters. Her organs warmed, causing her bones to hum as her blood gushed through her arteries, pumped by her enflamed heart. All of it pushed its way to her hands, where Mars found herself molding a creature of flame, a phoenix, which shot from her hands and into her antithesis with wretched accuracy.

She shrieked, bawling Jadeite's name, before turning to cinder and ash.

Mars looked up. The mists had cleared, revealing the confrontation occurring between Jadeite and the other Sailor Scouts.

"What do you want?" Sailor Moon demanded.

"And who do you work for?" joined Mercury.

Jadeite looked up, stared Mars straight in the eye. "Soon," he said. "You'll find out soon enough."

...

The Scouts met at Rei's house the next day after school to discuss the repercussions of the previous weekend. As per usual, Luna had the clearest opinion of what their agenda should be.

"We need to figure out what it is Jadeite is up to," she told them. "Although it's likely that many of the youma we've battled have been somehow connected to him, we cannot be sure. Furthermore, we still do not know why he's stealing energy."

Ami nodded. "In order to do that, we probably need to confront him face to face."

Serena moaned into the table. "Face to face? As in challenge him to a battle?"

Ami paused, considered. "Exactly. We need to find a way to draw him out under our own terms."

"No more reacting, girls," Luna agreed. "The best course, I think, is to issue a duel, and see if he shows."

Rei was silent. She couldn't come up with a good reason—_other than that he was already stalking her_—not to do this… But she had a bad feeling about this.

...

"I'm going to have to leave you, Arys."

_Rei does not recognize the room she is in—the thick windows, the wrought iron bed—or the clothes she is wearing. She does not even recognize the name she is being called. Yet, she knows the words she must speak as though she is following a script. _

"No!"

He comes to her, takes her hands and kisses them softly.

"Yes. They need me, Arys. I'm General—bound to Metallia, and to Beryl."

"Bound?" Her words are almost silent.

_She has never thought of it in those terms before. _

"Yes."

"For how long, Jason?"

He looks away then, out her window and into the desert.

_Is it the same desert as before? she wonders. _

"Forever."

"Then let me come with you!"

She has the full attention of his frightening blue eyes. He takes off his glove, strokes a too hot hand over her face.

"You would follow me?"

"Of course! I will always, always follow you!"

"And you would fight for me?"

"Yes."

...

They would fight Jadeite tonight. Although issuing the duel the previous evening—a challenge which they had inscribed into the stars themselves—had taken a great deal of their energy, Luna suspected that if they combined forces they would still be strong enough to fight.

"After all," she had said, "You are the Sailor Scouts, chosen by destiny to fight this battle."

Rei repeated those words to herself now, as she washed her face, combed her hair. In a few minutes, she would leave to meet the others, and then they would travel together to meet the enemy.

_Jadeite_.

The name brushed across her mind, made her shiver.

_We end this tonight. _

...

The plan was simple. The challenge had given Jadeite instructions to meet Sailor Moon—alone—in the deserted portion of the warehouse district at midnight. The idea was to create a location with minimal interference from civilians while giving the others—Mars and Mercury—a place to lie in wait.

Once Jadeite _did _appear, Sailor Moon would speak to him. When he was distracted, Mercury would use her Mercury Bubbles in order to disorient him and Mars would freeze him with a sutra. They would then have the opportunity to question him.

Mars suspected that she already knew the answer to at least one of their questions.

She shifted, repositioning herself upon the large, wooden crate on which she was perched. She was very high up off the ground, high enough to be well out of Jadeite's way, but also close enough to be able to get a clear shot at him when she needed to. Mercury's position on the other side of the room mirrored her own, with Sailor Moon on the ground, seemingly vulnerable.

_Better to let him think we're fools_, she thought, a tinge of nervousness creeping into her thoughts.

The minutes rolled by. Midnight came and went, and still Jadeite did not show.

Sailor Moon huffed, stamped one of her feet. "_Guys_, what if he doesn't show? I mean, we didn't give him any incentive."

Mercury answered, her voice clear and confident. "He will show. We just have to be patient. I'm not particularly surprised he's late, he's just trying to throw us off our game."

Slow, echoing claps echoed off the walls. "I'm impressed, Mercury. That's correct."

They all gasped, collectively.

Jadeite must have arrived when their attention was focused on Sailor Moon. He now stood before them, impeccably dressed in his grey uniform—made from a material she knew to be soft, supple, yet durable.

Mars squeezed her eyes shut, willing those thoughts away.

"I must say, although I expected this to be some sort of trap, I didn't think it would be executed quite so… sloppily. Bad form, really." His eyes travelled the room.

Mars was very still.

His eyes moved past her.

"You do have a plan, I assume?" Jadeite quirked an eyebrow at Sailor Moon, his smile impish and faintly suggestive.

"I… Uh…" The girl—_their leader_—took a few steps backward, her words apparently dead in her throat.

Something dark and ugly coalesced in Jadeite's hand. "Too bad," he continued, "because I do."

Mars felt her stomach drop when she recognized it.

No time for the plan. No time for Mercury to gather the energy or the torque she needed to blast their enemy.

The dark energy crackled in his hand. It absorbed him completely as he formed it, readied to throw it at Sailor Moon. The impact would probably kill her.

There is only time for Mars to jump the twenty feet from her hiding spot, onto the floor in front of him, to hurl herself into his chest.

He made a quiet, padded sound as his hand touched the edge of her skin. Her eyes met his as the dark energy pooled over her heart, sinking into her bloodstream.

Then the moment is over.

Mars squeezed her eyes tight, searching for something to hold on to as the terrible pain spread through her body with every heart beat. Her vision blackened. Distantly, she thought she heard voices, but could not decipher their owners; there were hands on her skin, shaking her, violently, but she could not determine their size or texture. Perhaps it was Serena who grasped her hand, who pled for her to speak. It certainly seemed plausible that the cold, methodical voice asking the same questions they had devised just a few hours ago would belong to Ami. Definitely Ami who yelled for Sailor Moon to get out of the way, who screamed as the room filled with the crescendoing hiss of a thousand demons. And the hands that grabbed her, took her away from the noise and set her down, gently stroking the hair from her face… deep within her, Mars knew that hand, as she had always, would always, know it.

Her lips began to move, a quiet rhythm of words humming between her lips and teeth. She did not recognize the shape or sound of the words, but she knew their meaning.

_Ares, God of War, let me die facing the blood red sun. Ares, God of War, let me die facing the blood red sun. _

"Stay," he said, more a plea than anything else. "Stay with me."

_Let me die facing the blood red sun. _

The words came slower, became increasingly slurred—yet her vision stirred, and the faces of her friends began to swim in front of her again.

Above her shimmered a pale, gold face, beloved.

"_Jason._" She knew it for a mistake immediately. The name had left her mouth before she could think about it.

He drew in a sharp breath, before bowing his head. "Yes. I'm here."

Mars reached out, noticed the tremulous quality to her hands, the dark, purplish color her arms had turned.

"I think…" Her chest ached. She stopped, took another breath, tried again. "I think I must go… I feel like there's somewhere I'm supposed to be…"

Growling, he put his hands to her, working his fingers over her arms, neck, torso. A low oath hissed between his teeth. He looked down at her again. "I can't… I can't seem to fix this. Are you listening? Mars? Are you listening to me?" He propped her up against him.

Her head rolled to the side, limp. Her eyes sunk close, and behind her lips she saw pale gold sands, smeared bloody. In just a moment she would be there… Her heartbeat slowed.

He placed his hand over her and pumped, one, two, three times.

Fresh energy flooded her body, reawakened her failing heart, her drowsy mind. With sudden, violent force, she sat up, looked him dead in the eyes.

"Jadeite," she spat.

He smiled, then, that creepy smile with which she was beginning to become a little too familiar. "Good to have you back." Reaching a hand behind her neck, he supported her still heavy head, cradling her against him. His expression shifted, became a little more serious. "I can… _reverse _this… to a certain degree. But… I think that the damage is permanent."

She stiffened. Raising her hand, she peeled one of her gloves off, examined the darkening flesh of her fingertips. "Permanent," she repeated.

"But not fatal."

Mars looked up at him. "What then?"

"It may make things… _easier_," he grinned.

She wanted to smack him, anything to get that stupid expression off his face. Instead, she looked away, asked him as steadily as she could, "Who is Jason?" She looked back at him, awaiting her answer.

Jadeite's jaw worked, and it appeared as though he was about to respond, when a loud, pained scream filled the room. They both looked over to the other side of the warehouse, where Sailor Moon had just dusted Jadeite's youma. He looked down at her again. "Meet me tomorrow. Nine o'clock. I'll get the address to you later. I'll… explain things then."

He held her eyes until she agreed.

Turning to the remaining two Scouts, he spoke, his voice charming, "I'll be seeing you soon, Sailor Scouts. Adieu."

Mars lunged forward, attempting to catch him before he left. A sick, queasy feeling overcame her as she grasped only air, collapsed in the space he had been in. Again, she could hear the voices of her friends.

"Guys," she murmured, her voice shaky, "I think I'm having a vision…" Behind her eyelids, pressed tightly closed, she could see only a wavering vision of the future.

An image of Armageddon wavered before her. What could only be described as Hell's armies—or, perhaps more accurately, the armies of the Negaverse—was arrayed across her vision, streaming into eternity, ravishing the lands they overtook. The image of earth, shrunken, destroyed, flared across her lids, the broken bodies of the Scouts prominent amongst the wreckage. In the background, larger and more frightening than the rest, was a tall woman, with long, snake-like red hair. The Queen. At the front of the assembly were five figures. Two she recognized, three she did not. Four of them were men, holding swords, adorned in various models of armor. One was dark, another fair and broad, a third slight and somehow younger. The final seemed merry against the grim backdrop, strong and golden and so very clearly Jadeite. Standing at the front, dressed in a blood red gown with inky black hair streaming behind her, stood a mirror reflection of herself.

...

It had been necessary to revert back out of her Sailor Moon identity in order to take Rei home. The girl she and Ami were currently lugging back home had reverted back into her civilian persona ages ago.

"Geez, she's heavy," Serena whispered to Ami, afraid to wake her. "How long has she been passed out like this?"

"Almost twenty minutes now…" Ami seemed thoughtful. "What do you think Jadeite did to her?"

"I don't know, but she seemed okay before she passed out again."

"Yes… I wonder what she could have seen to make her faint like that?"

Serena shrugged. "She'll tell us when she wakes up, I guess… Hey—how much farther until we get to her house?"

Ami smiled softly. "Almost there, Serena. No need to be worried. You won't have to carry her for much longer." Her tone was reassuring.

"Hey! That's not what I was trying to say at all!"

The other girl just laughed.

They really did have her back at her house and in bed soon after that. They tucked her in, before quietly closing the door behind them.

Rei's grandfather was on the other side, fine lines wrinkling his forehead.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

They looked at each other. How much did he know? Not very much. Yet… he was a priest. Hadn't Rei said she'd been having these premonitions for years? He _must _know about those!

Serena squared her shoulders, filled her lungs with breath, ready to tell him what had happened.

Ami beat her to it.

"Rei had a premonition while we were out. It really must have taken a toll on her, because she fainted… We didn't know what else to do, so we brought her home."

The old man sighed. "Ah." He sounded weary. "And you don't think that's strange—that she has premonitions?"

They shook their heads.

"Kind of you girls to believe her. Most don't."

Serena frowned. "Really?"

He nodded. "I always knew Rei was special. Ever since she was a little girl, she's had the gift of foresight. Except… most of the time, it causes her more heartache than anything else."

"Why is that?" Serena asked, curiosity piqued.

"Often, people come to me asking for their fortunes. Although it's my job to accede to their wishes, I think that if they had the true power to see into the future—to see what fate was theirs—they would regret it.

"You see, when Rei was a child, she lived with her parents… In California, actually. My son-in-law had accepted a job working in the American branch of his company, believing he would be able to rise more swiftly within his company if he could succeed there." He paused then, a sad, wistful smile playing over his lips. "I didn't see my family often, because they lived so far away. Yet, even then, I knew Rei had great spiritual potential. When she was about four, she started getting sick. Her parents had her in and out of hospitals constantly, for illnesses no one could explain. Soon after, the dreams started—terrible nightmares, most featuring horrible fires. Her mother used to tell me about them, sometimes. She worried they were somehow connected to the fevers Rei always seemed to have, that maybe her daughter was expressing her fear through them. Time passed, and Rei's dreams never seemed to really go away, though, even when it became clear that she was in no mortal danger from her illnesses.

"Most clearly, I remember a summer Rei came to visit me. She was nine. I remember she came into my room, once, in the middle of the night, crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me that something terrible had happened to her parents. I jumped out of bed, looked into her parents room, and found them asleep, obviously fine. I'd turned back to Rei and explained to her that she must have had a nightmare... but she just shook her head, insisted that no, something terrible _had _happened. She described the fire to me, then. I didn't think much of it… But when I got the call three months later that her parents had died in a horrible fire, and that Rei would be coming to live with me as her next of kin… I realized I had grievously misjudged the situation."

Serena looked back at the door, as if she could see her friend slumbering behind the solid wood. "She must have been so scared…" she murmured.

"Extremely. She didn't speak for weeks, and when she finally did, she told me that she thought it was her fault, because she knew it would happen before it happened. The poor child… Of course, I remembered the episode from the summer before, and I believed her.

"I can't help but think that the visions have… _alienated _her from the rest of the world. Can you imagine, living, always knowing what will happen next?" He shuddered. "But… At the same time, she's all I have left of my daughter." He turned to Serena, before repeating, "She's all I have left."

Serena couldn't help but wonder if there was another meaning somewhere in his words—as if he were asking her not to get her hurt.

"I understand."

...

The cold no longer bothered him. Once, long ago, when he was more accustomed to the warmth glancing off the vast oceans of Earth, perhaps, but no longer.

Jadeite knelt on the slippery floor of Beryl's antechamber, head bowed, awaiting judgment.

Around him, the hosts of the Negaverse had gathered to hear his fate. Most noticeable were his three comrades and rivals—Nephrite, Zoisite, and Malachite, each waiting to take up his mantle should he fail. He didn't blame them for it; had he not been the one favored by the Queen, he would do the same.

"Jadeite," Beryl began. "You have failed me yet again."

Behind him, a high, twinkling laugh. Zoisite.

He ignored him, returned his attention to his Queen.

"Because of you, the Negaverse has lost a powerful ally in Titus, and much energy has been wasted. What have you to say for yourself?"

Keeping his eyes low to the ground, Jadeite spoke. "I believe I am capable of returning Mars to the fold."

The soft, whispering sound of gasps echoed off the walls.

He risked a look up, hoping to measure Beryl's reaction.

Her eyebrows were raised, her long arms clutched convulsively at the crystal she held in her lap. "Is that so?" she hissed. She looked up, made eye contact with him.

Jadeite swallowed, remembered a time when she was the most beautiful woman he had ever lain eyes upon, when he had been willing to do anything for her—even sell his soul to Metallia.

She licked her lips, and he was reminded of the night he swore his oaths to her. "Hmmm…. Very interesting. Metallia… Metallia believes that Mars may be the force which will tip the balance in our favor… Just as she did so many years ago." She flicked her wrist in his direction. "Rise, Jadeite. Go, now, replace Titus with the girl. Weaken Sailor Moon irreparably, and return a valuable warrior to the Negaverse. Do this, Jadeite, and the glory you shall gain will be eternal."

"Yes, my Queen."

...

_By now, Rei is used to the feeling these dreams give her, used to being a captive audience to these… whatever they were. _

_It hadn't been too hard,_ she finds herself thinking. She glances down at the papers in her hands—_what Rei realizes are carefully drawn maps of guard movement throughout the palace, the access codes to different doors, override commands, an armory inventory._ What she is doing is treason, punishable by death.

_Slowly, the circumstances begin to come back to her… Including her promise to fight for him. _

He has sent someone else.

_Rei recognizes her as Titus, the beautiful youma from last weekend. _

He has told her that she is trustworthy, though, that she should give the papers to her.

"Well, if it isn't the princess," she greets laughingly.

"Please do not say that so loud."

_Rei feels that horrible, sinking feeling in her stomach when she realizes what must be happening. _

"Of course." She pauses. "Do you have the papers?"

"Yes. Here."

"Very good. Jadeite will be _most _pleased."

_And just like that, she realizes, she will betray the Sailor Scouts. _

...

The sky is dark when Rei woke up. A full day since the battle, apparently.

_I can't believe I was asleep for that long_, she thinks with disgust. She rubbed at her eyes, scrubbed her hand through her hair, focusing on the dreams. It disturbed her how vivid they were getting. The small part of her, the part she wished would just shut up, suggested an explanation: memories.

She shuttered as she remembered Jadeite's promise, spoken to her in this very room. The errant thought reminded her of their agreement. The clock read 8:45 already.

Standing, Rei threw on the first shirt and jacket she found.

Jadeite had told her he would send word to her; the white sheet of folded paper sitting neatly on her bureau indicated that he had kept his word. The idea of him leaving this for her while she was asleep gave her the creeps.

Rei crept forward, opened the note and memorized the address written neatly in black ink.

She didn't want to alert her grandfather that she was leaving, so she propped the window open and climbed out. He wouldn't bother her until morning at best.

The walk to the bus stop was chilly, but Rei did not mind. The wind lashing at her face made her feel more real, somehow, more certain of herself. True, she was on her way to meet the enemy—and not even she could say what that meant—but that didn't mean anything. He had information that she needed, and so she would go to him.

What Rei didn't expect was to arrive at an apartment complex, to find the gate open for her and to walk into a normal residential hallway and up to an ordinary doorway. She rapped at the door cautiously.

It swung open. In the doorframe stood Jadeite, looming massive in front of her, so that she couldn't tell what was inside.

"You're late," he told her.

"Yes, I am." She didn't say anymore, didn't make any excuses, so he moved aside, gestured for her to come in.

"Didn't know you had a home," she murmured as she stepped inside.

He smirked down at her. "I requisitioned it for the occasion."

She didn't want to think about how he had done that.

The apartment was small, brightly lit. A kitchenette was prominent at the front of the apartment, with spacious white wrap-around counters overlooking a seating area. Rei drifted toward it, tracing her fingers over the surfaces.

She could feel Jadeite close behind her. His hand hovered over her shoulders for a moment before she turned, looked him directly in the eyes, and ordered him, "Show me who I really am."

His hands did touch her shoulders then, drew her closer and backwards, until her back pressed into those clean white counters.

"Why me?" she whispered.

"What do you remember?"

"Remember? I remember sand, lots of sand and the heat… I remember you, somehow, but your name was different and so was mine and we weren't here, but somewhere else… And you were telling me that you had to leave me, because you had sworn an oath and were bound to serve…" she paused, fumbled over the name, "_Beryl_, so I told you that I would follow you, and then I was somehow betraying someone or something… I'm not sure because I can't remember _what_, I only have the feeling that what I was doing was wrong… And then sometimes I dream about this cave, and you're there and you're—" Rei snapped her mouth shut, feeling the blush creep furiously over her cheeks.

"Yes, I suppose I was there." He laughed then, a boisterous laugh, a little too hearty. "That's all true, Rei."

"_How?_"

Jadeite sighed, ran a hand through his hair. "Once upon a time—a thousand years ago—we all lived in a time called the Silver Millennium. During that time, there was an empire, known as the Lunar Empire, consisting of the nine planets and the Moon." He laughed. "Obviously, they were ruled by the Moon Kingdom. You," and he looked at her pointedly, "were a princess of the planet Mars, and _I _was from Earth."

"Me? A princess?" Rei snorted. At the same time, what he was saying seemed like the truth. "So, what? Sailor Mercury was Princess Mercury and Sailor Moon was Princess Moon?"

"Exactly." He brushed a hand over her face.

She had to know. "What were we to each other?"

"Lovers."

She pulled back.

"I could never love you." She ground the words from between her teeth. The memories of what she had seen since becoming a Scout—of the people he had hurt, killed, fucked with—blazed in her mind. "I would never betray everything I stand for by loving someone so evil and twisted."

He sighed, suddenly seeming very, very tired. "You're a traitor, Rei."

"I'm not..." She remembered her dream from earlier that night, the papers she had so easily handed over to Titus. Memories of other dreams, of nights spent making love to Jadeite flashed through her mind, and her conviction wavered. "I'm not a traitor," she finished weakly.

"Let me help you remember, then." He raised a hand to her face, and suddenly she knew. A thousand images kaleidoscoped before her eyes, making her dizzy with the feeling.

He was telling the truth.

"Oh, _God_," she moaned.

She looked into his eyes, sick with herself and wanting nothing more than to just curl up on the floor and die.

The look in his eyes kept her from collapsing. Instead of disgust, she saw only desire. _He doesn't care that I betrayed my friends_, she realized. _He doesn't care._

He leaned forward, kissed her hard on the mouth. Her body pinned under his, she kissed him back, eagerly, enthusiastically. Her arms snaked around his neck and then he lifted her up, onto the counter top. His hands worked under her shirt, clutching at her as he worked to undo her shirt. Her teeth nipped at his lips, drawing blood. The taste of it flowed into her mouth, making her moan in delight.

"Join me, Rei." With his lips against her skin, she wanted to say yes. That was what tipped her off.

Rei pushed against him. "Stop, stop!"

To her surprise, he listened to her, stepped back.

That same longing still in his eyes, he let her walk past him. Standing at the door, she told him, "I will _never _betray my friends."

"Not yet, maybe, but you will." He lifted a finger to taste at the blood on his lip. "I'm in you, now."

"Never." She threw the word over her shoulder as she slammed the door behind her.


End file.
